Notable Technical Women Card Decks

Last October, Sarah Watz and I represented Joomla at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing at Phoenix, Arizona. A few booths down from our position was Duke University, which was launching a Kickstarter campaign to create a card deck and poster showcasing notable women in computing throughout the ages, it was fully funded within days, eventually closing at $15,010, 500% of its target. The card decks were also sent out to over 500 educators from around the world - people backing the project could opt for a 'get one, give one' option which sent a pack to an educator in additon to them receiving their own pack - and the project has continued to grow, now including daughter projects featuring upcoming leaders in the Middle East & Africa.

From its initial launch at Grace Hopper, the team behind the project was overwhelmed with interest, as educators from around the world began to receive their card decks and posters and share them on social media.

The project has since continued to grow, with the establishment of a new site at http://www.notabletechnicalwomen.org/ where you can order a set of the original cards, and new decks in their 'daughter projects' which showcase emerging leaders in the Middle East & Africa - there are also packs in progress showcasing Mexican women, Basque women, and a left handed pack - all made possible because the packs have been released under the Creative Commons license.

If you're an educator in a technical field, I can't recommend these highly enough - they're a great talking point and really raise awareness amongst women and girls of the many inspiring female leaders who have gone before them.

Not an educator? You can of course buy a pack for yourself, friends and family, but you can also gift a pack to an educator - and you can give one / get one as well, sharing is caring after all!

Want to help? As the packs are released under Creative Commons, you can help translate them into other languages, or even make your own!